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Despite the government shutdown, Vice President Joe Biden is vacationing at Camp David this long weekend. He's joined at the Maryland retreat by his family, including his wife (Jill Biden), children, and grandchildren.

The vice president is also there with "essential" government workers, who must work despite the government shutdown. That includes his Secret Service detail, as well as the Secret Service details assigned to the rest of his family, and other support staff. They are protecting the Bidens as they vacation -- but aren't getting paid because of the federal shutdown.

The vice president's public schedule simply reads:

WEEKEND GUIDANCE FOR THE VICE PRESIDENT

Saturday, October 12 - Monday, October 14, 2013

The Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden will be at Camp David. There are no public events scheduled.

Monday is Columbus Day, a federal holiday.

But Biden's absence from D.C. during the government shutdown hasn't gone unnoticed.

“I’m glad that negotiations are going on ... I’m disappointed that twice … we were close to a deal and the Democrats moved the goalposts, in light of the polling data,” Republican senator John McCain said this morning on a Sunday show. “Maybe we need to get Joe Biden out of the witness protection program.”

But there's no sign Biden will be back in D.C. today to help negotiate a resolution to the government shutdown.

Instead, he's busy at Camp David, where there are bowling lanes, tennis courts, hiking trails, and even a skeet shooting range.